belly fat

If you’re middle-aged and a night owl, you’re at a much higher risk for diabetes and other health problems than your early-riser friends — even if you’re getting the same amount of sleep as they are. A new study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism examined the health difference between what researchers call “evening and morning chronotypes” — people whose natural sleep-wake cycles make them either night owls or morning people. The aim was to see whether …

Don’t blame the food, blame the type of fat we eat. That’s what causes us to have big bellies, say Swedish researchers, who used a special muffin diet to demonstrate how this works. The authors of the study, published last month in the journal Diabetes, say this is the first time research on humans has shown that saturated fat (found in foods like butter, bacon, palm oil and beef) is deposited in a different place on the body than polyunsaturated …

Men, when you take off your clothes and look down, can you see your, um, manhood? If you can’t, you’re too fat. That’s the crude but effective test a British health-advocacy group says can let men know they have too much dangerous belly fat. The campaign is dubbed The Big Check and is based on the group’s survey of 1,000 British men ages 35 through 60 that found that one in three couldn’t see their genitals because the view was …

Is your waist measurement more than half your height? Then you could be at increased risk for diabetes and heart disease. That’s what British researchers found after following 30,000 middle-aged Europeans for up to 17 years: Waist size, not just weight or Body Mass Index (BMI), was a better predictor for high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular problems. “Keeping your waist circumference to less than half your height can help increase life expectancy for every person in the world,” said …

Think crunches for belly-fat are just the thing? Think again. The most dangerous type of belly fat””the kind that resides deep within the abdomen and sneaks into the spaces between internal organs””laughs in the face of your crunches, weight-lifting and resistance-training in general. A study of adults aged 18-70 found aerobic exercise such as jogging, however, can ‘significantly reduce’ this fat (also called visceral or liver fat), and decrease your risk of developing heart disease or diabetes.